Lesson of the Day: ‘I Was a Low-Income College Student. Classes Weren’t the Hard Part.’

What I think about the "hard part" I will read about is going to talk about how college works. I know some people who went to college like my older sister and my older cousins. The experience they had was good but it was stressing for them. The most difficult task for them to do in college was time management. Also staying focus in class. Accoutring to the article, Anthony Abraham Jack talks about how some minorites in college experience a "gap". I never had to help my parents paying bills because my family was very Welty. I always understand and I was always aware of it but I didn't see how Jack saw it the way he did. Until I was reading the whole article and now I know more about the "gap" situation he was talking about.

I Was a Low Income College Student. Classes Weren’t the Hard Part Revised Comment: Anthony Abraham Jack, writes this article talking about how schools need to learn that students who come from poverty or a low-income lifestyle need more than just financial aid to get through college. Avery Lemley, a student who responded to this article explains that she has never had to think about where her next meal was coming from, or even working to help our her family. Both parents in the home and both sisters who go to top universities as well. Within the article, Anthony also talks about how some minorities in college experience a “gap”. Minority students get into college, but are not financially stable to get through college. Many of the students work multiple jobs and extra hours to cover the costs of books, food, housing, tuition and more. Whereas students who don’t come from low income backgrounds, such as Avery’s family and many others aren’t settled with these same challenges.

I’ve never had to help my parents pay bills or help care for my siblings being the youngest. I’ve always been aware of the “gap”. But I’ve never seen it illustrated so vividly like Mr. Jack did. After reading the article and seeing the things he had to go through or go without and how he advocated for himself it’s definitely opened my eyes more. Most first generation college students are thought of as getting a golden ticket but it’s not like that. They don’t know what to expect for college life. They have to adjust severely and then learn to deal with the “gap” between themselves and their fellow students who are better off than they are.

Unlike Mr. Jack I have never had to help my parents pay the bills. I am fortunate enough to live in a middle class family where I don’t have to worry about those types of things. Since I have never experienced any substantial money problems in my family I didn’t fully understand all the struggles Mr. Jack was talking about. But now that I have read the article I have a better understanding. I see how there is a gap. We think that once low income students get into college that is there “golden ticket,” but we are wrong. There is so much in between getting accepted to college and graduating that we forget to think about. Most of these students are the first in their family to go to college and we need to think about the fact that they don’t know about the college life or what to expect. The school needs to provide more than financial support. They need to help these students learn how to navigate college life. This article helped me see that we need to bridge the gap, that we need to help those students have a good college experience.

A middle class family. Parents who provide for 3 children, two of which attend universities and one that plays the money sucker sport soccer. I've never wondered where my next meal is coming from, or had to work a job after school to help my parents pay the bill. But unfortunately that's how it is for many people, including Mr. Jack. I plan to play soccer in college, hopefully with the help of soccer and academic scholarships I will be able to attend the college of my dreams. But even with this bit of help, my family still may struggle with paying the big university bills. And by the sounds of Mr. Jack, college financial aid officers sound pretty naive to think of student struggling with paying the bills over making the grades. This is what worries me because nowadays we see students that graduate with thousands upon thousands of dollars of loans to pay off. Its like your life is put on hold until your able to pay these dues, then other bills stack high that are waiting to be paid off. Many kicks now talk about not going to college to get an education because they believe its not worth the debt. The think “they'll manage” just fine without a degree.

What I Came to conclusion after reading Mr. Jack’s story regarding his argument, is that financial aid is not enough to support low-income students. That schools should decrease their robotic nature of its treatment and become more “human”, in a way, to further support their path in education. To do this they must recognize that they can’t just slap a couple of dollars onto a leak and expect it to be fixed. That leak is going to keep flowing until they use that money on the right place. People who know enough to solve it. By recounting his childhood and college years, he sets the picture to the point of view of a student such as himself during them — working multiple jobs, lifeless as a corpse, and with no emergency support —, but mainly as a student who’s family is nearly dependent on them on financial support or as someone who can barely buy a bite to eat.

Coming from a middle class family, I have never had to worry about things like food. I find it interesting, his situation, because I can not imagine being that different for me. My parents don’t rely on my money to help them. Therefore, I will not have anyone to spend my money on, except myself. I find it sad that college was such a different experience and I believe that high schools need to help with that transition. High schools are there to help you build the skills for college, but they do not give all the skills needed; they only teach academic skills. High schools need to teach students effective ways to get through a tough time, if they want to push students to success, that way students can potentially avoid situations like the one the article’s author, Anthony Abraham Jack, had to go through.

Throughout the article, Jack recalls stories from his childhood and college years to place an emphasis on issues faced by students beyond financial aid and how institutions have been responding to them. He uses the example of a science project he did as a kid to illustrate his financial struggles growing up and furthers his argument by explaining how he took his money problems to college with him and overworked himself with extra shifts to cover the “unavoidable costs of staying on campus during breaks.” He mentions that he later became aware that he was part of the 40 percent of undergraduates who struggle with food insecurity and then moves on to provide immediate solutions and support methods that campuses could potentially install, such as allowing meal-share programs and opening food pantries, in order to lower this percentage. Another problem he brings light to is how diverse students are expected to use the trauma they’ve been through for a shot at a future. While it may be good to face challenges while you’re young to help create your image for college apps that can distinguish you from other kids who are also applying, Jack describes the aftermath as a “haunting” experience because of the constant worry he remembered feeling about his situation at home.

Through out the text, Anthony Abraham Jack describes his college years as a ‘dual citizenship’. This can be seen in multiple different dynamics. First, he feels the contradicting responsibilities of supporting his family in Miami and pursuing a college career in Massachusetts. He also illustrates how lost he feels as he is trapped between two vastly different cultures. Although there is not a large distance between my family and school, I can understand what he is talking about. Between the conflicting requirements and commitments of family and school, there is often a confusion as to what to prioritize.

In this article Anthony Abraham Jack describes the challenges he faced as a low income college student. Although he did receive financial aid for tuition, that was not enough to support him for the times that they did not have classes. Something I noticed about this article that really hit me was that not all people have to worry about this, beyond that colleges need to provide basic necessities for their students who don’t have the income to leave campus on breaks. Colleges need to both support and provide for their low income students. Anthony had to quickly switch between two different cultures and adapt each time when going back to Amherst.

I believe that colleges should take the time and consider the conditions and challenges that many students must go through in order to get an education. The main purpose of college is to receive a higher level of education and when that isn’t a students main focus I believe something is wrong. The fact that Anthony Abraham Jack has to mark his calendar with the “hungry days” is ridiculous and actions should be taken by all colleges to ensure that things like this do not happen. I feel as if smaller campuses such as Amherst College-the school which the author of the article attends- should be able to focus one-on-one with their students and make sure their everyday needs such as food and shelter are met so that the students can go to class and focus on what truly matters.

Anthony Abraham Jack, the author of this article compares his college experience to having a duel citizenship because of the new atmosphere and responsibilities he had to adapt to. His life at Amherst College was much different, and maybe gave him even more struggles. His financial state was lower than other students and he was not able to do as much as other students: like leaving for holidays and going to see family. He also had to juggle between family and school responsibilities. During breaks he was not able to go home due to the lack of money, and he had to provide for himself because the school would not do so during holidays.

Anthony Abraham Jack’s “dual citizenship” of Amherst and Miami is of two completely different places with two completely different cultures. Mr. Jack feels that the school doesn’t do enough to aid him, which seems to be true because he says he can’t go home for break and goes starving some days. The school helps the student get to college and pay for it, but once you get there the help seems to diminish.